Thur. Aug. 27, 2026 – Work today, eclipse tonight?

By on August 27th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

More hot and humid. Can’t fool mother nature, and it’s very natural to have heat and humidity in the Houston swamp. Over 100F in the shade, and 106F in the sun… and again probably today. It was a bit cooler at midnight, only 85F with some gusting winds.

I did nothing all day. I laid on the bed, stretching and reading most of it. I can’t help feeling bad about it, while acknowledging that some part of me must have needed that. We’ll see, but I did do a whole lot of physical work with little sleep, and a whole lot of being out in public and talking to people which is taxing in its own right.

Today though, I really need to get back in the swing of doing things. I think I’ll have to get the fence repair at the rent house done, at a minimum. And since the utility guys have called for a trim crew, I should cut any stuff along my property line if I want to save any of it. And I do, because it provides shade and some isolation for the back yard.

I should also move toward getting A/C going in the office at the shop, and the portacool set up there for the warehouse area, and start digging a path through the garage to swap out the A/C in there, which is definitely not making cold…

And I’ve got cameras to install. I’m moving one drop and upgrading that cam to look at the back yard, and I need to get the cam to spy on the halfway house driveway installed. Every time I think no one is home to observe and object, someone pulls up. They seem to swap out guys at the end of the month, so I’ve got a good window coming up.

It’s gonna be another day of sweating in the heat. My ice pack cool vest should help.

Lots to do, and stacks to work from and on. If you’ve got the stuff, you should use it once in a while…

nick

Comment and discussion on "Thur. Aug. 27, 2026 – Work today, eclipse tonight?"

  1. brad says:

    I though I was supposed to be retired, but I have way too much to do. For the next two months or so. Grrrph. I’ll pop in here occasionally, but likely only very irregularly…

    WTH is ‘balcony solar’?   1200 watts is nothing, not even enough to run a hair dryer, and it has to be grid tied?   How does that work in an apartment?    Really how does it work anywhere?

    They save you a bit of money by providing some power. If they’re cheap, why not?

    They are not designed to be independent systems – if the power is cut off, they must stop generating. Otherwise, they might electrocute an electrician doing work. Also, not having to run independently, their inverters can be a bit simpler – they just have to sync to the grid. So not suitable for a building that isn’t grid-tied.

    We’re moving from that kind of inverter on our roof solar, to one that can run independently, and adding in batteries and more panels. Where we lived before, there were rarely power failures. Here, for whatever reason, they happen a lot more often. Plus, with the extra capacity, we should be able to cover our power needs except maybe a week or two in deepest winter.

    Faculty quit as Texas A&M-Victoria implements new in-office policy.

    How can you teach if you live over two hours away from your campus?

    As I wind down with my old school, I have done just that. It’s a pain. Two years ago, when I still had a full teaching load, I spend two nights a week in a hotel. Last year, half-retired, I stayed just one night in a hotel. This year I just have one course, so I take the train there, teach, and take the train back. Not fun, but I am done, done, done after this semester. Future teaching only at the local trade school.

    A 100% in-office policy would be brain-dead stupid. Why should the school care, where you prep your courses, grade your exams, etc.. Nowadays, even most meetings with students are easily held remotely.

    Of course, I started spending ever less time in the office a few years ago, when they took away our fixed workspaces and created a huge room full of identical, shared desks crammed next to each other. You can’t leave things lying around, and you have zero privacy. And honestly? Call it ego, but as a full professor I figured that I deserved better than that. That was the end of the limited time I did spend in the office. 

    “Future of work” by McKinsey, said the school administration. Why does anyone pay attention to those idiotic consulting firms?

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